Sign up for Monthly Newsletter

The Lady of Solitude

Paula Parisot

Translated by Elizabeth Lowe, Clifford E. Landers

The Lady of Solitude projects a fresh and daring new voice on to the Brazilian literary scene. These transgressive and highly charged erotic stories are all written from a woman’s point of view and they offer an unexpected perspective on the world, sex and desire in a changing Brazilian and global context. That is not to say that all of Parisot’s characters are strong, emancipated and resolute: they just live in a world where relationships of all kinds have changed. Avowedly a disciple of the famous detective writer Rubem Fonseca, Paula Parisot adds a new and sinister twist to crimes of passion in the big city. Some of the settings are familiar to Fonseca fans: high society salons, favelas, back alleys, and hotels in European capitals. Alternating the register from interior monologue to letters and omniscient narration, Parisot brings to the surface intimate moments as well as exact instants when certain social conventions change, move on or die.

Paula Parisot was born in Rio de Janeiro. She has a degree in industrial design from the Pontificia Universidade Catolica (Rio de Janeiro) and an M.F.A. from the New School in New York. She has worked in fashion design and film while pursuing her writing career. Her first book, A Dama da Solidão (The Lady of Solitude) was a finalist for the Jabuti Prize for the short story.Her first novel, Gonzos e Parafusos (Hinges and Screws,2010) inspired a performance art event in which the author spent seven days and six nights in a cage, re-enacting the sanatorium room that mimics the final scene of the novel. Partir (Leaving, 2013) is illustrated by the author and also inspired several performance art and film events. The author lives in São Paulo with her family.